The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Euphorbia milii plant, botanically known as Euphorbia milii Desmoul, commonly known by the name Crown of Thorns, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Rhea’.
The new Euphorbia milii is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor, Steen Thomsen, in Haarslev, Fyn, Denmark. The new Euphorbia milii originated from a cross made in 2001 by the Inventor with unnamed cultivars of Euphorbia milii Desmoul. The male and female parental cultivars are unnamed, unpatented seedlings of Euphorbia milii Desmoul. The Inventor selected the new Euphorbia milii cultivar as a single plant from the progeny of the above crossing in 2001 on the basis of flower and compact, freely branching habit. Plants of the new Euphorbia milii are upright, compact and have a unique color and abundant, small flowers.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken and propagated and trial production batches in Denmark, has shown that the unique features of this new Euphorbia milii are stable and reproduced true to type in many successive generations.